Poverty forces Gaza children into labor, crime

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - A growing number of Palestinian children are roaming the streets of Gaza looking for a meager wage to help support their families in the impoverished territory.

Instead of going to school, Ahmed, 13, dodges vehicles in one of Gaza City's busiest streets trying desperately to sell candy to motorists on the move.

Working feverishly to peddle his merchandise at the smoky intersection, Ahmed said he cannot afford to slow down.

"I am the bread-winner for my 12-member family," the boy said. "I work every day, all week, and I get about 20 shekels ($5) a day. At home, we almost never eat meat, maybe once a month."

Ahmed is not alone. With unemployment topping 60 percent in the crowded strip of land squeezed between Israel and the Mediterranean, hundreds of children like him have taken on the role of providers as most families have little or no income.

The Western freeze on direct aid to the Palestinian government headed by Hamas, an Islamic militant group that has spurned donors' demands to recognize Israel, has only deepened the economic despair in Gaza.

Children sell cigarettes along Gaza's beaches, and some even venture into Jewish settlements Israel demolished before its withdrawal in 2005 to steal scrap metal and earn small change.

Such forays can be dangerous, drawing Israeli fire at times, when youngsters stray into Israeli-designated "no-go" areas along the tightly controlled border.

Ten-year-old Atteya, selling biscuits and lighters at a busy Gaza intersection, said failure is not an option.

"If you are shy, you will not sell what the (supplier) gave you and you may get beaten or fired. Sometimes if you return home without any money you will be beaten by your father," Atteya said.

Palestinian labor law bans children under the age of 15 from working. But lawlessness pervades the Gaza Strip and the prohibition is ignored.

POVERTY BREEDS CRIME

Some children turn to crime.

"Why do I steal? the conditions made me steal," Kahil, 15, said from inside al-Rabeea juvenile detention centre in Gaza City.

"The first thing I stole was an apple," he said, explaining that the path to bigger thefts was a natural progression.